Drift Taps Tether For $150M Reboot, Signaling A Stablecoin Power Shift

BlockSec data shows the stablecoin issuer blacklisted 370 addresses across Tron and Ethereum, with Tron taking nearly all of the action. (Image: Shutterstock)
BlockSec data shows the stablecoin issuer blacklisted 370 addresses across Tron and Ethereum, with Tron taking nearly all of the action. (Image: Shutterstock)

Tether (USDT) has gained ground on Solana (SOL) after bankrolling a $150 million relaunch of Drift Protocol, a move analysts say reshuffles the stablecoin pecking order following April's $285 million exploit.

Drift Rescue Package

Drift said Thursday it secured nearly $150 million from Tether and other partners to reopen trading and repay users. The package includes a $100 million revenue-linked credit facility, an ecosystem grant, and loans to market makers.

Proceeds will seed a dedicated user recovery pool covering losses from the April 1 breach.

Attackers drained roughly $285 million from Drift vaults in about 12 minutes, an incident security firms TRM Labs and Elliptic attributed to North Korean threat actors.

The DRIFT token fell more than 40% during the attack, and total value locked slid from $550 million to under $250 million.

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Stablecoin Shift On Solana

Analyst Seggzy wrote that Drift's move reflects where traders already sit, noting USDT offers deeper books and tighter spreads on Solana.

Commentator CryptoScoping framed the switch as a contest between two models, arguing that Circle moved slowly while Tether intervened quickly during the crisis.

TRM Labs flagged timelocks and oracle defense as the central lessons from the breach, analysts said.

Drift's pivot extends a rough stretch for Solana DeFi. The network has absorbed several high-profile exploits over the past year, and USDC (USDC) had long been the preferred stablecoin there before Tether's rescue package reshuffled the pecking order.

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Alexey Bondarev

Alexey Bondarev is the Head of Content at Yellow.com, having reported on crypto for the last 10 years. He specializes in in-depth Research and Learn pieces, with a focus on analytical reporting, industry context, and the bigger forces shaping crypto, from the AI era and security technologies to fintech innovation. He believes that everything digital will imminently overcome everything analogue and is working hard to make that come true.

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Drift Taps Tether For $150M Reboot, Signaling A Stablecoin Power Shift | Yellow